JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Former President Jimmy Carter will be laid to rest today in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. He died last Sunday at the age of 100. He was honored with a national funeral service in Washington, D.C., this morning that included a eulogy from President Biden.
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PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Throughout his life, he showed us what it means to be a practitioner of good works and a good and faithful servant of God and of the people.
SUMMERS: Carter's funeral brought together all five living presidents, including Biden. NPR's Stephen Fowler watched today's funeral. He joins us now from Atlanta. Hi there.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hey there.
SUMMERS: Stephen, these state funerals - they combine highly choreographed rituals with personal touches of those who are being remembered. How would you describe today's service for former President Carter?
FOWLER: Juana, it really did feel more personal than presidential. I mean, you had the military honor guard and the ceremonial pomp and pageantry, and it was in this magnificent cathedral. But the tone of the service really focused more on Jimmy Carter, the post-presidential humanitarian that truly lived as a man of the people. That's what we heard from people that knew him best throughout his life, like former United Nations ambassador Andrew Young, who delivered the homily, and this from Carter's grandson, Jason.
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JASON CARTER: Maybe this is unbelievable to you, but in my 49 years, I never perceived a difference between his public face and his private one. He was the same person no matter who he was with or where he was. And for me, that's the definition of integrity.
SUMMERS: Carter is remembered for his four decades of work after leaving the White House more so than for his time as president. Tell us how that was reflected in the remarks.
FOWLER: Well, for one, Carter lived so long after taking office that he survived two of the planned speakers at his funeral - his Vice President Walter Mondale and President Gerald Ford, the man he beat to win the White House. Both Mondale and Ford wrote touching tributes to Carter that were then read aloud by their sons that also touched more on the humanity of Jimmy Carter than his presidential achievements. But Stuart Eizenstat, who served as a top adviser for Carter, used his address to make the case that Carter was not a failed leader and was, quote, "as close to being a renaissance man as any president."
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STUART EIZENSTAT: Farmer, businessman, nuclear engineer, naval submarine officer, woodworker, painter, fly fisherman, music lover, poet, author, Sunday school teacher, creator of The Carter Center.
FOWLER: Eizenstat went on to say, in a message that sought to both define and defend Carter's legacy, that while Jimmy Carter might not be a candidate for Mount Rushmore, quote, "he belongs in the foothills." And Biden said that Carter was a president who was ahead of his time, praised his character and a hundred years of a life fully lived.
SUMMERS: Indeed. And tonight Carter's casket will return to his hometown of Plains, Georgia, where he will be buried. Tell us about those plans.
FOWLER: There's going to be one final ceremony today at Carter's Maranatha Baptist Church. That's where he taught Sunday school often well into his 90s. Instead of being buried at his presidential library or somewhere else more prominent, he'll be buried beneath the willow tree in the backyard of the family home next to his wife, Rosalynn, who died in 2023.
SUMMERS: That's NPR's Stephen Fowler in Atlanta. Stephen, thank you so much.
FOWLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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